Texas Deaths 1890-1976 (FamilySearch):
Name: Ollie Coon
Death date: 08 May 1968
Death place: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Gender: Female
Race or color (on document): White
Age at death: 78 years
Birth date: 20 Mar 1890
Birth place: Macksville, N.C.
Marital status: Single
Father name: Wm. Pailey Coon
Mother name: Cassandra Sain
Occupation: Greenville Herald Banner
Residence: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Burial place: Greenville, Texas
Film number: 2137028
Digital GS number: 4029712
Image number: 2552
Reference number: 36132
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976
----------
SSDI:
OLLIE COON 20 Mar 1890 May 1968 75401 (Greenville, Hunt, TX) (none specified) 454-01-4877 Texas
----------
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Thu, 9 May 1968, page A1, Miss Ollie Coon’s Life Ends (photo captioned: Miss Ollie Coon)
M(obliterated by mailing label) ner (ditto) ploye of this newspaper for nearly 60 years, died at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Greenville Surgical Hospital.
She was 78 years old on March 20 and would have completed her 60th as a staff member of this newspaper on July 7.
Miss Coon was a victim of cancer.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Central Christian Church with Roemer Hudler and Dr. James Sandlin officiating.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the funeral services.
Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C., daughter of the late William Paley and Cassandra Sain Coon. In 1893, the family moved to Texas, settling in the Bethel community south of Greenville.
Her mother died when died when Miss Coon was only seven years old, and she went to live with her older sister and brother-in-law, Cora and H.M. Taylor, at their farm home near Cash. Here she grew to womanhood.
In 1907, she obtained her second-grade certificate from the Lone Oak Normal School and began teaching at a one-room school near Lone Oak.
It was while she held this job (obliterated by mailing label) ne a country cor-(ditto) r te Greenville Evening Banner. It was this job that first gave her the idea of becoming a reporter.
She told the story herself in the Banner for July 8, 1958, a special edition of the newspaper which marked her golden anniversary as a reporter.
“As I ride into Greenville on the coal-burning Texas Midland, a covered wagon or horse and buggy, and see all those telephone poles and so many wires, I knew Greenville must be largest town anywhere. But whoever heard of a woman being a newspaperwoman? Eyebrows were lifted and advice was given, but my family defended and encouraged me.”
On July 8, 1908, the 18-year-old school teacher forsook the classroom and walked into the old Banner office on Washington Street opposite Central Christian Church, sat down at a green Oliver typewriter, and went to work.
She soon found she had to overcome the prejudice prevalent at the time toward working women.
“For a while there was also excitement in Greenville at having a woman reporter. Some of the men and most of the women disapproved. The women were caught in a crossfire of mixed feelings. They grasped the significance of society reporting and soon wanted me to attend their functions, but some were concerned about association with a career woman. One society leader is said to have remarked that if working women were going to mix socially with ladies, they should wear uniforms.”
She overcame this early difficulty, however, and went on to a career without parallel in Texas journalism.
Her busy life was more than just journalism, however. Her lively interest in politics was spurred by years of close friendship with the late Sam Rayburn of Bonham, who served as Speaker of the House longer than any other man.
She became active in his first campaign for Congress, and followed his career through all the years up to his death.
One of the great moments of her life came when a grateful Rayburn designated her to speak as the official representative of his Congressional district at a testimonial banquet honoring him held in Dallas in 1932.
Another great friendship in her life was her long association with the late Herald Banner editor, Herman Scott, who came to the old Banner in 1924 as an unpaid copy boy and stayed on for 43 years, half of it as the newspaper’s top editorial executive.
Her varied activities brought her many honors through the years, but she cherished her role in the founding of the Hunt County Home Demonstration clubs as much as any honor, waging a stout-hearted campaign against a recalcitrant county government to get the program under way.
“I got all fired up about the project,” she wrote years later. “I not only burned up the typewriter, but the Commissioners Court as well.”
She served as secretary of the Hunt County Chapter of the American Red Cross for more than 40 years, including service during both World Wars. In this position, she worked with the USO and War Recreation Council for the downtown soldiers club here.
She was a charter member of the local Business and Professional Women’s Club, serving as it first secretary and later as its president.
She belonged to the Zodiac Club, and was active in the direction of the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association from its beginning, serving on the board of directors from the time the association was organized. Following a lapse following World War II, the association was reorganized under her personal sponsorship.
Another of her interests was the Texas Federation of Woman’s Clubs, which she served as state secretary for two years. She also edited the Texas Federation News for four years.
She also helped organize the Greenville Altrusa Club, and only the day before her death was presented with a plaque by the club naming her as it Most Worthy Member, the first time such an action had been taken by the organization.
Another club to which she belonged was the Pallas Club.
She was honored by the PTA for her many years of service to the children, parents and teachers of the community and served on its boards of the National Foundation of the March of Dimes and the Guest House.
Although Miss Coon never married, she enjoyed a full family life through her nieces, nephews and their children.
“Except for short periods, there was always a child in my home to keep me in wonderment and to make practical use of my hobby of cooking,” she once wrote. “Helping children grow and seeing their personalities develop has been a rare adventure.”
She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. L.E. Creasy of Greenville and Mrs. M.A. Wallace; 11 nieces, Col. Sarah Bill Williams, Miss Mildred Williams, Mrs. Gladys Owens and Mrs. Ab Decker, all of El Paso, Col. Ruth Williams and Mrs. May Whitfield, both of Fort Myers, Fla., Mrs. Ben Smith of Abilene, Miss Bess Wallace of Midland, Mrs. Fay Armstrong of Fort Worth, Mrs. Neola Harris of Norwood, N.C., and Miss Grace Bell of Washington, D.C.; seven nephews, Ralph Taylor of Greenville, Milburn Taylor of Austin, Roy Taylor of Beaumont, J.W. Hulsey of Jacksboro, and Neil Williams, Sam Williams and John Williams, all of North Carolina; and a number of other relatives.
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Fri, 10 May 1968, page 2, Miss Ollie Coon Services Today
Funeral services for Miss Ollie Coon, women’s society editor of the Herald Banner and employe of this newspaper for almost 60 years, will be at 10 a.m. today at Central Christian Church.
The Rev. Roemer Hudler, pastor of Central Christian Church, and Dr. James L. Sandlin, interim pastor of Crestview Christian Church, will officiate.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the services for Miss Coon, who died Wednesday afternoon after an illness of 10 weeks.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C. She moved to Hunt County with her parents in 1893 settling in the Bethel community, and later lived in Cash.
She attended the Lone Oak Normal School and taught for one year at a one-room school near Lone Oak before joining the staff of the Greenville Evening Banner on July 8, 1908.
Her long career with the Herald Banner and its predecessor newspaper continued unbroken until her death.
She was an active participant in many Greenville civic clubs and organizations, and served as an officer in the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Zodiac Club, the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association and the Greenville Entertainment Series, the Altrusa Club, the Pallas Club, the American Red Cross and the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs.
She also played a vital role in the founding of the Hunt County Demonstration Clubs, and considered this one of her greater achievements.
Name: Ollie Coon
Death date: 08 May 1968
Death place: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Gender: Female
Race or color (on document): White
Age at death: 78 years
Birth date: 20 Mar 1890
Birth place: Macksville, N.C.
Marital status: Single
Father name: Wm. Pailey Coon
Mother name: Cassandra Sain
Occupation: Greenville Herald Banner
Residence: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Burial place: Greenville, Texas
Film number: 2137028
Digital GS number: 4029712
Image number: 2552
Reference number: 36132
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976
----------
SSDI:
OLLIE COON 20 Mar 1890 May 1968 75401 (Greenville, Hunt, TX) (none specified) 454-01-4877 Texas
----------
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Thu, 9 May 1968, page A1, Miss Ollie Coon’s Life Ends (photo captioned: Miss Ollie Coon)
M(obliterated by mailing label) ner (ditto) ploye of this newspaper for nearly 60 years, died at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Greenville Surgical Hospital.
She was 78 years old on March 20 and would have completed her 60th as a staff member of this newspaper on July 7.
Miss Coon was a victim of cancer.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Central Christian Church with Roemer Hudler and Dr. James Sandlin officiating.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the funeral services.
Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C., daughter of the late William Paley and Cassandra Sain Coon. In 1893, the family moved to Texas, settling in the Bethel community south of Greenville.
Her mother died when died when Miss Coon was only seven years old, and she went to live with her older sister and brother-in-law, Cora and H.M. Taylor, at their farm home near Cash. Here she grew to womanhood.
In 1907, she obtained her second-grade certificate from the Lone Oak Normal School and began teaching at a one-room school near Lone Oak.
It was while she held this job (obliterated by mailing label) ne a country cor-(ditto) r te Greenville Evening Banner. It was this job that first gave her the idea of becoming a reporter.
She told the story herself in the Banner for July 8, 1958, a special edition of the newspaper which marked her golden anniversary as a reporter.
“As I ride into Greenville on the coal-burning Texas Midland, a covered wagon or horse and buggy, and see all those telephone poles and so many wires, I knew Greenville must be largest town anywhere. But whoever heard of a woman being a newspaperwoman? Eyebrows were lifted and advice was given, but my family defended and encouraged me.”
On July 8, 1908, the 18-year-old school teacher forsook the classroom and walked into the old Banner office on Washington Street opposite Central Christian Church, sat down at a green Oliver typewriter, and went to work.
She soon found she had to overcome the prejudice prevalent at the time toward working women.
“For a while there was also excitement in Greenville at having a woman reporter. Some of the men and most of the women disapproved. The women were caught in a crossfire of mixed feelings. They grasped the significance of society reporting and soon wanted me to attend their functions, but some were concerned about association with a career woman. One society leader is said to have remarked that if working women were going to mix socially with ladies, they should wear uniforms.”
She overcame this early difficulty, however, and went on to a career without parallel in Texas journalism.
Her busy life was more than just journalism, however. Her lively interest in politics was spurred by years of close friendship with the late Sam Rayburn of Bonham, who served as Speaker of the House longer than any other man.
She became active in his first campaign for Congress, and followed his career through all the years up to his death.
One of the great moments of her life came when a grateful Rayburn designated her to speak as the official representative of his Congressional district at a testimonial banquet honoring him held in Dallas in 1932.
Another great friendship in her life was her long association with the late Herald Banner editor, Herman Scott, who came to the old Banner in 1924 as an unpaid copy boy and stayed on for 43 years, half of it as the newspaper’s top editorial executive.
Her varied activities brought her many honors through the years, but she cherished her role in the founding of the Hunt County Home Demonstration clubs as much as any honor, waging a stout-hearted campaign against a recalcitrant county government to get the program under way.
“I got all fired up about the project,” she wrote years later. “I not only burned up the typewriter, but the Commissioners Court as well.”
She served as secretary of the Hunt County Chapter of the American Red Cross for more than 40 years, including service during both World Wars. In this position, she worked with the USO and War Recreation Council for the downtown soldiers club here.
She was a charter member of the local Business and Professional Women’s Club, serving as it first secretary and later as its president.
She belonged to the Zodiac Club, and was active in the direction of the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association from its beginning, serving on the board of directors from the time the association was organized. Following a lapse following World War II, the association was reorganized under her personal sponsorship.
Another of her interests was the Texas Federation of Woman’s Clubs, which she served as state secretary for two years. She also edited the Texas Federation News for four years.
She also helped organize the Greenville Altrusa Club, and only the day before her death was presented with a plaque by the club naming her as it Most Worthy Member, the first time such an action had been taken by the organization.
Another club to which she belonged was the Pallas Club.
She was honored by the PTA for her many years of service to the children, parents and teachers of the community and served on its boards of the National Foundation of the March of Dimes and the Guest House.
Although Miss Coon never married, she enjoyed a full family life through her nieces, nephews and their children.
“Except for short periods, there was always a child in my home to keep me in wonderment and to make practical use of my hobby of cooking,” she once wrote. “Helping children grow and seeing their personalities develop has been a rare adventure.”
She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. L.E. Creasy of Greenville and Mrs. M.A. Wallace; 11 nieces, Col. Sarah Bill Williams, Miss Mildred Williams, Mrs. Gladys Owens and Mrs. Ab Decker, all of El Paso, Col. Ruth Williams and Mrs. May Whitfield, both of Fort Myers, Fla., Mrs. Ben Smith of Abilene, Miss Bess Wallace of Midland, Mrs. Fay Armstrong of Fort Worth, Mrs. Neola Harris of Norwood, N.C., and Miss Grace Bell of Washington, D.C.; seven nephews, Ralph Taylor of Greenville, Milburn Taylor of Austin, Roy Taylor of Beaumont, J.W. Hulsey of Jacksboro, and Neil Williams, Sam Williams and John Williams, all of North Carolina; and a number of other relatives.
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Fri, 10 May 1968, page 2, Miss Ollie Coon Services Today
Funeral services for Miss Ollie Coon, women’s society editor of the Herald Banner and employe of this newspaper for almost 60 years, will be at 10 a.m. today at Central Christian Church.
The Rev. Roemer Hudler, pastor of Central Christian Church, and Dr. James L. Sandlin, interim pastor of Crestview Christian Church, will officiate.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the services for Miss Coon, who died Wednesday afternoon after an illness of 10 weeks.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C. She moved to Hunt County with her parents in 1893 settling in the Bethel community, and later lived in Cash.
She attended the Lone Oak Normal School and taught for one year at a one-room school near Lone Oak before joining the staff of the Greenville Evening Banner on July 8, 1908.
Her long career with the Herald Banner and its predecessor newspaper continued unbroken until her death.
She was an active participant in many Greenville civic clubs and organizations, and served as an officer in the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Zodiac Club, the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association and the Greenville Entertainment Series, the Altrusa Club, the Pallas Club, the American Red Cross and the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs.
She also played a vital role in the founding of the Hunt County Demonstration Clubs, and considered this one of her greater achievements.
Texas Deaths 1890-1976 (FamilySearch):
Name: Ollie Coon
Death date: 08 May 1968
Death place: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Gender: Female
Race or color (on document): White
Age at death: 78 years
Birth date: 20 Mar 1890
Birth place: Macksville, N.C.
Marital status: Single
Father name: Wm. Pailey Coon
Mother name: Cassandra Sain
Occupation: Greenville Herald Banner
Residence: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Burial place: Greenville, Texas
Film number: 2137028
Digital GS number: 4029712
Image number: 2552
Reference number: 36132
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976
----------
SSDI:
OLLIE COON 20 Mar 1890 May 1968 75401 (Greenville, Hunt, TX) (none specified) 454-01-4877 Texas
----------
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Thu, 9 May 1968, page A1, Miss Ollie Coon’s Life Ends (photo captioned: Miss Ollie Coon)
M(obliterated by mailing label) ner (ditto) ploye of this newspaper for nearly 60 years, died at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Greenville Surgical Hospital.
She was 78 years old on March 20 and would have completed her 60th as a staff member of this newspaper on July 7.
Miss Coon was a victim of cancer.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Central Christian Church with Roemer Hudler and Dr. James Sandlin officiating.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the funeral services.
Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C., daughter of the late William Paley and Cassandra Sain Coon. In 1893, the family moved to Texas, settling in the Bethel community south of Greenville.
Her mother died when died when Miss Coon was only seven years old, and she went to live with her older sister and brother-in-law, Cora and H.M. Taylor, at their farm home near Cash. Here she grew to womanhood.
In 1907, she obtained her second-grade certificate from the Lone Oak Normal School and began teaching at a one-room school near Lone Oak.
It was while she held this job (obliterated by mailing label) ne a country cor-(ditto) r te Greenville Evening Banner. It was this job that first gave her the idea of becoming a reporter.
She told the story herself in the Banner for July 8, 1958, a special edition of the newspaper which marked her golden anniversary as a reporter.
“As I ride into Greenville on the coal-burning Texas Midland, a covered wagon or horse and buggy, and see all those telephone poles and so many wires, I knew Greenville must be largest town anywhere. But whoever heard of a woman being a newspaperwoman? Eyebrows were lifted and advice was given, but my family defended and encouraged me.”
On July 8, 1908, the 18-year-old school teacher forsook the classroom and walked into the old Banner office on Washington Street opposite Central Christian Church, sat down at a green Oliver typewriter, and went to work.
She soon found she had to overcome the prejudice prevalent at the time toward working women.
“For a while there was also excitement in Greenville at having a woman reporter. Some of the men and most of the women disapproved. The women were caught in a crossfire of mixed feelings. They grasped the significance of society reporting and soon wanted me to attend their functions, but some were concerned about association with a career woman. One society leader is said to have remarked that if working women were going to mix socially with ladies, they should wear uniforms.”
She overcame this early difficulty, however, and went on to a career without parallel in Texas journalism.
Her busy life was more than just journalism, however. Her lively interest in politics was spurred by years of close friendship with the late Sam Rayburn of Bonham, who served as Speaker of the House longer than any other man.
She became active in his first campaign for Congress, and followed his career through all the years up to his death.
One of the great moments of her life came when a grateful Rayburn designated her to speak as the official representative of his Congressional district at a testimonial banquet honoring him held in Dallas in 1932.
Another great friendship in her life was her long association with the late Herald Banner editor, Herman Scott, who came to the old Banner in 1924 as an unpaid copy boy and stayed on for 43 years, half of it as the newspaper’s top editorial executive.
Her varied activities brought her many honors through the years, but she cherished her role in the founding of the Hunt County Home Demonstration clubs as much as any honor, waging a stout-hearted campaign against a recalcitrant county government to get the program under way.
“I got all fired up about the project,” she wrote years later. “I not only burned up the typewriter, but the Commissioners Court as well.”
She served as secretary of the Hunt County Chapter of the American Red Cross for more than 40 years, including service during both World Wars. In this position, she worked with the USO and War Recreation Council for the downtown soldiers club here.
She was a charter member of the local Business and Professional Women’s Club, serving as it first secretary and later as its president.
She belonged to the Zodiac Club, and was active in the direction of the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association from its beginning, serving on the board of directors from the time the association was organized. Following a lapse following World War II, the association was reorganized under her personal sponsorship.
Another of her interests was the Texas Federation of Woman’s Clubs, which she served as state secretary for two years. She also edited the Texas Federation News for four years.
She also helped organize the Greenville Altrusa Club, and only the day before her death was presented with a plaque by the club naming her as it Most Worthy Member, the first time such an action had been taken by the organization.
Another club to which she belonged was the Pallas Club.
She was honored by the PTA for her many years of service to the children, parents and teachers of the community and served on its boards of the National Foundation of the March of Dimes and the Guest House.
Although Miss Coon never married, she enjoyed a full family life through her nieces, nephews and their children.
“Except for short periods, there was always a child in my home to keep me in wonderment and to make practical use of my hobby of cooking,” she once wrote. “Helping children grow and seeing their personalities develop has been a rare adventure.”
She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. L.E. Creasy of Greenville and Mrs. M.A. Wallace; 11 nieces, Col. Sarah Bill Williams, Miss Mildred Williams, Mrs. Gladys Owens and Mrs. Ab Decker, all of El Paso, Col. Ruth Williams and Mrs. May Whitfield, both of Fort Myers, Fla., Mrs. Ben Smith of Abilene, Miss Bess Wallace of Midland, Mrs. Fay Armstrong of Fort Worth, Mrs. Neola Harris of Norwood, N.C., and Miss Grace Bell of Washington, D.C.; seven nephews, Ralph Taylor of Greenville, Milburn Taylor of Austin, Roy Taylor of Beaumont, J.W. Hulsey of Jacksboro, and Neil Williams, Sam Williams and John Williams, all of North Carolina; and a number of other relatives.
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Fri, 10 May 1968, page 2, Miss Ollie Coon Services Today
Funeral services for Miss Ollie Coon, women’s society editor of the Herald Banner and employe of this newspaper for almost 60 years, will be at 10 a.m. today at Central Christian Church.
The Rev. Roemer Hudler, pastor of Central Christian Church, and Dr. James L. Sandlin, interim pastor of Crestview Christian Church, will officiate.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the services for Miss Coon, who died Wednesday afternoon after an illness of 10 weeks.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C. She moved to Hunt County with her parents in 1893 settling in the Bethel community, and later lived in Cash.
She attended the Lone Oak Normal School and taught for one year at a one-room school near Lone Oak before joining the staff of the Greenville Evening Banner on July 8, 1908.
Her long career with the Herald Banner and its predecessor newspaper continued unbroken until her death.
She was an active participant in many Greenville civic clubs and organizations, and served as an officer in the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Zodiac Club, the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association and the Greenville Entertainment Series, the Altrusa Club, the Pallas Club, the American Red Cross and the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs.
She also played a vital role in the founding of the Hunt County Demonstration Clubs, and considered this one of her greater achievements.
Name: Ollie Coon
Death date: 08 May 1968
Death place: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Gender: Female
Race or color (on document): White
Age at death: 78 years
Birth date: 20 Mar 1890
Birth place: Macksville, N.C.
Marital status: Single
Father name: Wm. Pailey Coon
Mother name: Cassandra Sain
Occupation: Greenville Herald Banner
Residence: Greenville, Hunt, Texas
Burial place: Greenville, Texas
Film number: 2137028
Digital GS number: 4029712
Image number: 2552
Reference number: 36132
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976
----------
SSDI:
OLLIE COON 20 Mar 1890 May 1968 75401 (Greenville, Hunt, TX) (none specified) 454-01-4877 Texas
----------
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Thu, 9 May 1968, page A1, Miss Ollie Coon’s Life Ends (photo captioned: Miss Ollie Coon)
M(obliterated by mailing label) ner (ditto) ploye of this newspaper for nearly 60 years, died at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Greenville Surgical Hospital.
She was 78 years old on March 20 and would have completed her 60th as a staff member of this newspaper on July 7.
Miss Coon was a victim of cancer.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Central Christian Church with Roemer Hudler and Dr. James Sandlin officiating.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the funeral services.
Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C., daughter of the late William Paley and Cassandra Sain Coon. In 1893, the family moved to Texas, settling in the Bethel community south of Greenville.
Her mother died when died when Miss Coon was only seven years old, and she went to live with her older sister and brother-in-law, Cora and H.M. Taylor, at their farm home near Cash. Here she grew to womanhood.
In 1907, she obtained her second-grade certificate from the Lone Oak Normal School and began teaching at a one-room school near Lone Oak.
It was while she held this job (obliterated by mailing label) ne a country cor-(ditto) r te Greenville Evening Banner. It was this job that first gave her the idea of becoming a reporter.
She told the story herself in the Banner for July 8, 1958, a special edition of the newspaper which marked her golden anniversary as a reporter.
“As I ride into Greenville on the coal-burning Texas Midland, a covered wagon or horse and buggy, and see all those telephone poles and so many wires, I knew Greenville must be largest town anywhere. But whoever heard of a woman being a newspaperwoman? Eyebrows were lifted and advice was given, but my family defended and encouraged me.”
On July 8, 1908, the 18-year-old school teacher forsook the classroom and walked into the old Banner office on Washington Street opposite Central Christian Church, sat down at a green Oliver typewriter, and went to work.
She soon found she had to overcome the prejudice prevalent at the time toward working women.
“For a while there was also excitement in Greenville at having a woman reporter. Some of the men and most of the women disapproved. The women were caught in a crossfire of mixed feelings. They grasped the significance of society reporting and soon wanted me to attend their functions, but some were concerned about association with a career woman. One society leader is said to have remarked that if working women were going to mix socially with ladies, they should wear uniforms.”
She overcame this early difficulty, however, and went on to a career without parallel in Texas journalism.
Her busy life was more than just journalism, however. Her lively interest in politics was spurred by years of close friendship with the late Sam Rayburn of Bonham, who served as Speaker of the House longer than any other man.
She became active in his first campaign for Congress, and followed his career through all the years up to his death.
One of the great moments of her life came when a grateful Rayburn designated her to speak as the official representative of his Congressional district at a testimonial banquet honoring him held in Dallas in 1932.
Another great friendship in her life was her long association with the late Herald Banner editor, Herman Scott, who came to the old Banner in 1924 as an unpaid copy boy and stayed on for 43 years, half of it as the newspaper’s top editorial executive.
Her varied activities brought her many honors through the years, but she cherished her role in the founding of the Hunt County Home Demonstration clubs as much as any honor, waging a stout-hearted campaign against a recalcitrant county government to get the program under way.
“I got all fired up about the project,” she wrote years later. “I not only burned up the typewriter, but the Commissioners Court as well.”
She served as secretary of the Hunt County Chapter of the American Red Cross for more than 40 years, including service during both World Wars. In this position, she worked with the USO and War Recreation Council for the downtown soldiers club here.
She was a charter member of the local Business and Professional Women’s Club, serving as it first secretary and later as its president.
She belonged to the Zodiac Club, and was active in the direction of the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association from its beginning, serving on the board of directors from the time the association was organized. Following a lapse following World War II, the association was reorganized under her personal sponsorship.
Another of her interests was the Texas Federation of Woman’s Clubs, which she served as state secretary for two years. She also edited the Texas Federation News for four years.
She also helped organize the Greenville Altrusa Club, and only the day before her death was presented with a plaque by the club naming her as it Most Worthy Member, the first time such an action had been taken by the organization.
Another club to which she belonged was the Pallas Club.
She was honored by the PTA for her many years of service to the children, parents and teachers of the community and served on its boards of the National Foundation of the March of Dimes and the Guest House.
Although Miss Coon never married, she enjoyed a full family life through her nieces, nephews and their children.
“Except for short periods, there was always a child in my home to keep me in wonderment and to make practical use of my hobby of cooking,” she once wrote. “Helping children grow and seeing their personalities develop has been a rare adventure.”
She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. L.E. Creasy of Greenville and Mrs. M.A. Wallace; 11 nieces, Col. Sarah Bill Williams, Miss Mildred Williams, Mrs. Gladys Owens and Mrs. Ab Decker, all of El Paso, Col. Ruth Williams and Mrs. May Whitfield, both of Fort Myers, Fla., Mrs. Ben Smith of Abilene, Miss Bess Wallace of Midland, Mrs. Fay Armstrong of Fort Worth, Mrs. Neola Harris of Norwood, N.C., and Miss Grace Bell of Washington, D.C.; seven nephews, Ralph Taylor of Greenville, Milburn Taylor of Austin, Roy Taylor of Beaumont, J.W. Hulsey of Jacksboro, and Neil Williams, Sam Williams and John Williams, all of North Carolina; and a number of other relatives.
Greenville (Texas) Herald Banner, Fri, 10 May 1968, page 2, Miss Ollie Coon Services Today
Funeral services for Miss Ollie Coon, women’s society editor of the Herald Banner and employe of this newspaper for almost 60 years, will be at 10 a.m. today at Central Christian Church.
The Rev. Roemer Hudler, pastor of Central Christian Church, and Dr. James L. Sandlin, interim pastor of Crestview Christian Church, will officiate.
Burial will be in Forest Park Cemetery under the direction of Coker-Mathews-Peters Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be Raymond Kerr, Paul Horton, Dale Nix, Matt Sheley, Joe Peters and Roscoe Wallace.
The Herald Banner will be closed during the hour of the services for Miss Coon, who died Wednesday afternoon after an illness of 10 weeks.
Miss Coon was born March 20, 1890, in Mocksville, N.C. She moved to Hunt County with her parents in 1893 settling in the Bethel community, and later lived in Cash.
She attended the Lone Oak Normal School and taught for one year at a one-room school near Lone Oak before joining the staff of the Greenville Evening Banner on July 8, 1908.
Her long career with the Herald Banner and its predecessor newspaper continued unbroken until her death.
She was an active participant in many Greenville civic clubs and organizations, and served as an officer in the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Zodiac Club, the Greenville Area Community Concerts Association and the Greenville Entertainment Series, the Altrusa Club, the Pallas Club, the American Red Cross and the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs.
She also played a vital role in the founding of the Hunt County Demonstration Clubs, and considered this one of her greater achievements.
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